


Purchase and exchange

by ineptshieldmaid



Series: Of Heroes and Queens [6]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Character of Color, F/F, Golden Age Narnia - Freeform, Horizontal Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-20
Updated: 2011-01-20
Packaged: 2017-10-14 22:23:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/154120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineptshieldmaid/pseuds/ineptshieldmaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marriage, and the duties which come with it, seem to agree with Aravis. She thinks before she speaks, drinks her wine slowly, and slips smoothly from gossip to business.</p><p>Susan would like to think <i>I taught her that</i>, but she’s not so sure.<br/>---</p><p>It is my policy not to use archive warnings for Narnia fic. Please see story notes and additional tags for content disclosure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purchase and exchange

**Author's Note:**

> I do not use the AO3’s archive warnings for Narnia fic, because it is my policy not to warn for underage sex. If you’re concerned about age, please see [this post](http://ineptshieldmaid.dreamwidth.org/189551.html) for an explanation and advice. With regard to this fic in particular, see [the endnote.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/154120#work_endnotes)
> 
> \---
> 
> This fic is another in my loose collection of Narnia fic entitled 'Of Heroes and Queens'. It fits in a sort of plot arc with [Contest of Queens](http://archiveofourown.org/works/102388), [The Education of Aravis](http://archiveofourown.org/works/102398) and [Queen Helen's Lace](http://archiveofourown.org/works/102403). No prior knowledge of the series is required - it's not so much a series as a thematically linked collection.
> 
> Thanks to kayloulee for the swift beta check :)

King Lune’s messenger birds can’t talk - that’s what makes them trustworthy. The scroll tied to the pigeon’s foot simply says _Expect my envoy within the week_.

Susan knows better than to expect Corin. Lune knows Corin could never drive a hard bargain, not if Susan fluttered her eyelashes at him or Peter got chummy with him over a tankard of dwarfish ale. Cor is more likely, or -

‘Your Majesty.’ Aravis sweeps down from the carriage and into just the right degree of curtsy - not the low obeisance of a young Tarkheena, but the controlled courtesy of a princess royal.

* * *

Marriage, and the duties which come with it, seem to agree with Aravis. She thinks before she speaks, drinks her wine slowly, and slips smoothly from gossip to business.

Susan would like to think _I taught her that_ , but she’s not so sure. Maybe Aravis taught herself. Maybe she brought it with her - this hawk-eyed, shrewd discretion - out of Calormen, and never saw fit to show it until now.

Susan wants an exclusive contract on the shipping of Archen silver. Aravis wants -

‘A moment of your time, Susan?’ No honorific, no _my lady_ , no _your Majesty_. Like one of the Maenads; like an old, old friend.

* * *

Aravis has red, red lips - red like wine, red like face-paint carefully applied before a feast. Aravis has dark, shrewd eyes, and she watches Susan with them. Not like a cat watches a mouse; not like a puppy watches a grown hound. She watches Susan like one diplomat watches another; like a friend watches a friend she has not seen in a year.

Aravis touches first her hand, then her cheek, then the fabric of her gown. Aravis touches her forehead to Susan’s, her lips to Susan’s lips, her hands to Susan’s waist. Susan breathes, and breathes, and still she feels airless; but Susan knows this, knows touching and breathing as well as she knows the dance around the negotiation table and the dance of the dryads in the woods by night.

‘This is about the trade arrangements,’ Susan says, and she pulls away only far enough to press her lips to the faint, fluttering pulse at Aravis’ neck.

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On whether you are motivated by seduction,’ Aravis says, threading one hand into Susan’s hair, ‘when it comes to bargaining on trade arrangements.’

‘And if I’m not?’ Susan draws back a little, sits a little straighter. Aravis casts her eyes down, lingering on the flushed skin exposed above Susan’s bodice. And she laughs, low and dark, before she places one hand flat against Susan’s ribs and pushes her gently until Susan is sprawled beneath her and Aravis’ hair is coming down from its pins all around them both.

**Author's Note:**

> Regarding age: I haven't the faintest what Aravis' actual age is (quite a bit older than in HHB, certainly). No one in this fic is a child. There is, however, a significant age difference between Susan and Aravis. I don't believe age is related to a power disparity here but you may want to keep that in mind.


End file.
